Fears horse meat may be donkey as scandal spreads across Europe

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A LAW banning horses from Romanian roads may be responsible for the surge in the fraudulent sale of horse meat - which may turn out to be donkey meat - on the European beef market, a French politician said today.

Horse-drawn carts were a common form of transport for centuries in Romania, but hundreds of thousands of the animals are feared to have been slaughtered after the change in road rules, The Independent reports.

"Horses have been banned from Romanian roads and millions of animals have been sent to the slaughterhouse,'' said Jose Bove, a campaigner for small farmers who is now vice-president of the European Parliament agriculture committee.

The Europe-wide scandal over horsemeat sold as beef has spread as leading French retailers pulled products from their shelves and threats of legal action flew.

The horse meat scandal is threatening cross-border tensions, as France says Romanian butchers and Dutch and Cypriot traders were part of a supply chain that resulted in horse meat disguised as beef being sold in frozen lasagne around the continent.

An initial investigation by French safety authorities determined that French company Poujol bought frozen meat from a Cypriot trader, Hamon's office said in a statement on Sunday. That trader had received it from a Dutch food trader, and that Dutch company had received the meat from two Romanian slaughterhouses.

The statement didn't name the Romanian, Cypriot or Dutch companies.

Poujol then supplied a Luxembourg factory, Hamon's statement said. The Luxembourg factory is owned by French group Comigel. The lasagne was ultimately sold under the Sweden-based Findus brand.

No one has reported health risks from the mislabelled meat, but it has unsettled consumers across Europe.

Accusations are flying. In France, the Foreign Minister called it "disgusting,'' and consumer safety authorities increased inspections of the country's meat business, from slaughterhouses to supermarkets.

French retailers Auchan, Casino, Carrefour, Cora, Monoprix and Picard announced they were withdrawing products provided by frozen food giant Findus and French producer Comigel over the horsemeat concerns.

The retailers said the withdrawal was the result of "labelling non-compliance in regards to the nature of the meat" in the products.

French Consumer Affairs Minister Benoit Hamon said officials would have the preliminary results of their inquiry into the scandal by Wednesday. France "will not hesitate" to take legal action if there is evidence that companies had knowingly duped consumers, he added.

His ministry said Hamon and other senior officials would meet with "all players in the industry" for crisis talks on the scandal on Monday.

Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius also made it clear someone would have to pay for what he described as a "abominable and disgusting" affair.

"There are clearly people involved making a profit... there need to be tough sanctions." he told France's BFMTV television.

Findus has said it will file a legal complaint in France after evidence showed the presence of horsemeat in its supply chain "was not accidental". Its Nordic branch said Sunday it planned to sue Comigel and its suppliers.

"This is a breach of contract and fraud," said the head of Findus Nordic, Jari Latvanen. "Such behaviour on the part of a supplier is unacceptable."

"Customers must be able to trust the contents declaration,'' he said. "We will take strong action to make sure those who are liable in this affair are punished. Our reputation has been damaged, and we do everything to re-establish confidence.''

Comigel head Erick Lehagre told AFP the company had been fooled by its suppliers and vowed to seek compensation.

"We were victims and it's now clear that the problem was not with Findus nor with Comigel," he said. "This represents a very heavy loss for us and we will seek compensation."

Romania's President is scrambling to salvage his country's reputation. A Swedish manufacturer is suing a French supplier central to the affair.

The French ministers for agriculture, the food industry and consumer protection are holding an emergency meeting Monday with meat producers.

While horse meat is largely taboo in Britain and some other countries, in France it is sold in specialty butcher shops and prized by some connoisseurs.

But French authorities are worried about producers misleading the public.

An affair that started earlier this year with worries about horse meat in burgers in Ireland and Britain has spread into a Europe-wide scandal.

The EU commissioner for agriculture is meeting with Romania's foreign minister about the latest horsemeat worries. Romanian President Traian Basescu said Sunday that his country could face potential export restrictions and lose credibility "for many years'' if the Romanian butchers turn out to be the root of the problem.

"I hope that this won't happen,'' Basescu said in televised statements. Romania's agricultural ministry has begun an investigation.

In the Netherlands, Esther Filon, spokeswoman for the Dutch Foods and Wares Authority, said that the Dutch haven't started investigating but they are ready to if necessary.

"We're a ways away from being able to confirm or deny whether a Dutch company is involved,'' she said. "It would presumably be a question of fraud, rather than food safety. Horse meat can be sold legally in the Netherlands, as long as it is labeled as such.''